Most Wanted Wedding Shoes | Fashion Post

{ 1. Kate Spade Charm Slingback in White Glitter; 2. Giuseppe Zanotti Chiffon Bow Sandal; 3. Manolo Blahnik Swan Embellished Satin Pump; 4. Rene Caovilla Crystal T-Strap Sandal in Gold; 5. Christian Louboutin Demi You Glittered Red Sole Pump; 6. Rene Caovilla Twist Strap Crystal Embellished Sandal in Silver; 7. Badgley Mischka Piper Feather Toe Pumps; 8. Badgley Mischka Jeannie Peep Toe Pumps; 9. Badgley Mischka Poetry-II Embellished Pump; 10. Jimmy Choo Cinderella 110; 11. Stuart Weitzman Pavé Nudist Swarovski Crystal Sandal; 12. Jimmy Choo Vivien 85}

The WAHM | Time Saving Beauty Products

A few days ago I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about “doing it all” – as in having kids, scheduling and driving to their activities, organizing and maintaining a home, trying to stay active and fit, and in our cases, also running businesses at the same time. She asked me how I manage to fit everything in, and I replied, “badly” – and we had a laugh. 

The funny thing is, people tell you that as your little ones start to head off to school, you will have all this extra time available – like all of the sudden time will magically fall from the sky and you’ll finally have those few hours you need to tackle all the piles of life you’ve been neglecting or doing in a half-arsed manner since your children were born. I’ve decided these people are the same ones that told me that going from one child to two was easy…and I call these people liars! Since my oldest has started school, there is absolutely no more hours or minutes just floating around waiting for me to snatch them up. In fact, I am probably busier than I have been in my whole life. On the bright side, we can add taxi driver to the list of skills on my résumé.

My friend and I then started talking about getting ourselves ready for the day in the morning, and I told her about my small army of beauty product time savers that I use – tools that I try to fit in between packing lunch, giving the dog his thyroid medicine, keeping my toddler entertained, and answering client emails.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. JAPONESQUE Color Collection Eye Shadow Crease Brush.I was informed by a makeup artist that if you have little time and are going to bother with eye shadow at all – skip everything but the crease shadow. What? I know. But it seems to work – especially for those of us with hooded or Asian eyelids. Skip the base, highlight, and just get’er done with the crease. Love this Japonesque brush – soft and no tugging.
2. Batiste Dry Shampoo.Some days there just isn’t time to wash your hair – enter dry shampoo. Batiste makes a great dry shampoo in a range of scents. Spray, massage in, brush and you’re done.
3. JAPONESQUE HD High-Impact Eyelash Curler.I did not inherit thick nor long eyelashes, and they are stick-straight and hard to curl. Lucky me! For those of you with lash shortcomings, give this Japonesque curler a go. It curls more in the middle than on the sides, and has a much stronger crimp than other models I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot!), so with a little mascara (see #5 below) I feel like I have defied nature.
4. Benefit Cosmetics Eye Bright Pencil.Um yeah, if you have kids, you need this! I first saw this product used by Carmindy on the show “What Not to Wear”. It is a thick pencil with a light pink eyeliner-like product inside. You apply Eye Bright under your eyes where your dark circles are. Smudge it in. Where did those circles go? Ah-mazing.
5. Maybelline New York Volume' Express The Rocket Waterproof Mascara.This stuff is the bomb if you have sad little tiny lashes like me. This is the only mascara I have EVER used that actually makes your lashes look thicker, without going all clumpy and gross. The trick with this one is to put it on lightly in one sweep and then leave it. There is no need to build it up or add extra coats – one sweep will do.
6. The Wet Brush.Probably my favorite hair-related purchase ever other than my straightening iron. With daughters, there is a lot of hair combing going on, and one of mine hates it and is forever whining/crying about it. I read about the Wet Brush in a magazine and finally decided to buy one to try. What a godsend – and it saves me time because there are no more fights or crying in the morning over hair brushing in our home.
7. BOOTS No7 Pamper Dry Oil Body Spray.Boots is a UK brand we can finally now buy here in North America. This dry oil is great for after the shower and has a fresh clean scent. I use it as a moisturizer that doubles as a slightly perfumed body spray. The spray is not greasy and absorbs quickly, so you can put your clothes on and go.
8. L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream.BB cream is nice because it isn’t as thick or as heavy as foundation, but it still provides nice light coverage for everyday. You can smooth this one on with your fingers and it blends very well – no foundation brushes or sponges needed – just put it on like moisturizer. I love an easy and quick product to even your skin out in the morning! (Just a note here – if you have light skin like me, and are on the lighter/porcelain side, but the "Fair" option, as it is actually lighter than their "Light" cream.)

What are your favorite time-saving beauty products?

Fashion Post | NYC Bridal Market Spring 2014 Trends | Subtle Color

It's taken me a while to get this post put together, but as promised, here is the second installment in our series of posts about NYC Bridal Market Spring 2014 trends! The second trend I took note of (and enjoyed) was the subtle use of color in various designer's gowns for next year. Now I remember way, way back when (the exact year I couldn't say but I'm going to venture to guess early 2000s?), when color was used in bridal gowns – and I remember some of the almost garish mixes of black and bright reds in lace overlays and so on. In my opinion, it wasn't a good look!

Jump forward to Spring 2014 and we have some really pretty and delicate use of color in a variety of gowns – from subtle lace detailing to full blown floods of pastels, golds, sand tones, peaches, and even lilacs and rose tones (the Rivini Paradisio gown below is shown in "Coral Mist" – such a great name for this golden shade). The Angel Sanchez gown really takes my breath away – it is just so exquisite and balletic.

Below are some of my favorite colored gowns from Spring 2014. In the Fall 2014 collections we see some brighter colors (especially some of the brighter selections from Vera Wang), but the Spring collections were more reserved – which I love.

Would you wear a colored gown on your wedding day – or is traditional white or ivory more your style?

{1. Oscar de la Renta - Analeigh, 2. Angel Sanchez - N10004, 3. Romona Keveza, 4. Oscar de la Renta - Aline, 5. Austin Scarlett - Flora, 6. Austin Scarlett - Azalea, 7. Claire Pettibone - Primrose, 8. Romona Keveza, 9. Rivini - Paradisio, 10. Claire Pettibone - Abigail } p.s. We would love to design a custom letterpress wedding invitation for you based on a subtle color palette or the detailing of your wedding gown. Contact our Vancouver letterpress studio for details!

Fashion Post | NYC Bridal Market Spring 2014 Trends | Beautiful Backs

The New York International Bridal Week (Bridal Market) wrapped up just over a week ago, and I noticed some exciting and beautiful trends in the Spring 2014 collections. One trend I really loved (I'll post about some others later) was how so many designers really focused a tremendous amount of attention on the design of the back of their gowns. From ornate embellishment and beading to lace illusion backs and exquisite embroidery, there were numerous gowns that simply took my breath away. Claire Pettibone is my new favorite designer when it comes to the beautiful back trend; the backs of her gowns were so delicate and romantic, with just the right amount of detail. You really could not add or take anything away to make the dresses more beautiful than they already are. The Amsale gown is not quite in the same category of lace and detail, but I like it because it is still a dramatic back without being over the top.

Considering that most of your wedding guests will spend a significant amount of time looking at your back during your ceremony, why not go for some drama with one of these gorgeous numbers?

{ 1. Claire Pettibone – Aphrodite, 2. Claire Pettibone – Toile Francais, 3. Claire Pettibone – Genevieve, 4. Claire Pettibone – Alma, 5. Ines Di Santo – Clementine, 6. Claire Pettibone –Papillon, 7. Claire Pettibone – Alchemy, 8. Amsale – Newport, 9. Rivini – Lanai, 10. Rivini – Avina, 11. Reem Acra, 12. Angel Sanchez – N10000 }
p.s. We would love to design a custom letterpress wedding invitation for you based on the lace and embellishment of your wedding gown. Contact our Vancouver letterpress studio for details!

Fashion Post | Wedding Shoes for the Bride

Hello friends!

I hope this post finds you well and enjoying the beginning of the Fall season! If you come here regularly you might have noticed a few changes to the design of the Adventures in Letterpress blog. It has been a few years since our last update, and a lot of things have changed since then (I don't even think Instagram existed then!), so we were long overdue for an update.  I think the new look is more in tune with our design aesthetic (I'm sorry, I hate saying that - "design aesthetic". Ugh - too many episodes of Project Runway and listening to them repeat "design aesthetic" over and over. You could base a drinking game on how many times it is said during a single episode. I digress...) Anyway, I hope you like the new design and that you come back to check out some of our new additions and features on the blog.

Something new for you today is a little fashion post - I know you come for the letterpress, but since our work focuses so much on weddings and we love fashion, I thought it would be fun to have a fashion feature on the blog every once in a while. Maybe it will become a regular thing?

Back when I was planning to get married, I hate to say that I didn't get very creative with my wedding shoes. I did chose a nice pair of ivory shoes that I loved, but they were from the same bridal shop where I purchased my dress. I don't regret my choice at all, but it really didn't occur to me to think outside the box at the time and go for something different and fun. Just because your dress is white or ivory doesn't mean your shoes have to match! The trend of wearing colored or non-wedding-specific shoes is getting so much more popular. I am seeing many wedding shoots and styled features in bridal magazines where the bride is pulling her dress up ever so slightly to reveal the fun shoes underneath her gown.

Here are my current picks (ouch! better to just not read the prices ;) :

{ 1. Badgley Mischka – Cissy, 2. Badgley Mischka – Randall, 3. Christian Louboutin – Pigalle (also available in hot pink!), 4. Prada – Style #320336301, 5. Badgley Mischka – Renita, 6. Valentino – Blush Satin Crystal Bow, 7. Badgley Mischka – Gilroy, 8. Jimmy Choo – Abel, 9. Betsey Johnson – Balladd, 10. Christian Louboutin – Decollete 554 Strass }